Baghdad – On Monday last, an Islamist group kidnapped the Ezidi man Wessim Abd from his apartment in Baghdad and demanded the payment of a large ransom.
Abd´s family from Dokhata agreed to the ransom demand and paid 50,000 USD. However, the kidnappers killed Abd despite the family´s payment. His body was discovered a few days later and handed over to his relatives. Again and again, cases occur of Ezidis being kidnapped in Iraq. Despite the omnipresent danger, many Ezidis are forced to search for work in the capital and find themselves targeted by mostly Islamist groups for which ransoms have become a lucrative business.
